Introduction
When an architectural intervention is carried out in an environment, not only the environment that is the object of the intervention but the whole System-environment in which it is inserted and with which it interacts is transformed in an indelible manner. This phenomenon is defined as “environmental impact” and is expressed in the effects induced by the intervention carried out. We can therefore say that architecture has an “impact” on the environment.
A concept is fundamental because it gives an interpretation of architecture not as an autonomous phenomenon, closed in on itself, but as a set of actions that cannot ignore the relationship with what is around them.
This assumption allows us to define the designer’s objective, which is to transform the environment through the creation of structures that improve and enhance the context in which they are located.
One of the most authoritative promoters of this idea of project was the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright who, in his writing “The Natural House” (1954), formulated the concept of “Organic Architecture”: “Organic architecture is a Philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world through design approaches so sympathetic and well integrated with its site, that buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition.”
This quotation shows, among other things, the influence of the natural elements inserted in an architectural environment on the psychological and physical health of people.
As a demonstration of this, several studies have been conducted; for example, a study by the European Center for Environment and Human Health (conducted for 18 years on 10,000 people), shows how nature has enormous positive effects on the well-being of people; “We’ve found that living in an urban area with relatively high levels of green space can have a significantly positive impact on wellbeing, roughly equal to a third of the impact of being married”, says Matthiew White, author of the research.
Although, if we consider the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of applying ‘organic’ architecture in an urban context, the objective is to think of innovative solutions that reintroduce nature also and above all in urban environments.
The research of this purpose has led many designers to try to imitate nature or to give more weight and space to the natural elements in the construction.
As a result, two new movements of design and architecture were born:
1) Biomimicry
2) Biophilic Design
1) Biomimicry
1.a Biomimetic architecture for sustainability
Biomimetic architecture aims to combine biology and technology by transferring biological processes from the natural to the artificial world, with the purpose of achieving a radical change, devoting itself to an eco-sustainable design. Biomimetic architecture thinks, designs and constructs buildings with limited environmental impact, with the aim of improving people’s health and comfort, thanks to the integration of appropriate structures and technologies. Making sustainable architecture means knowing how to build without damaging people and the environment, integrating into the context with an eye to a possible reuse of space and materials.
1.b Example of biomimetic architecture: The Mobius Project
The Mobius is a commercial innovation project by Iguana Architects and Yaniv Peer that could revolutionize the food production sector by reusing what we least need with its transformation into locally grown, low-carbon food.
The project consists of a replicable system of urban infrastructure, which provides for the possibility of managing a large amount of biological waste produced by cities through a closed-loop circular economy approach.
This project is inspired by the way ecosystems work in nature, according to Lavoisier’s principle that in Nature ” Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed”.
3D Visualizzaztion by Filippo Previtali
But Beyond sustainability, the task of Design, is therefore to project environments that exploit nature in order to generate people’s well-beign.
2) Biophilic Design
Biophilic design can be defined as an innovative and sustainable strategy of designing the places in which we live, work and are educated, not imitating the forms of nature, but connecting and incorporating people with the environment that surrounds them, reconnecting human nature with the natural world.
2.1 Semantic origin
The term “biophilia” means the love for life and for every living organism.
The German psychologist Erich Fromm described it as the psychological attraction of the human being to everything that is alive or that transmits vitality. In 1984 Edward O. Wilson, biologist at Harvard University and entomologist, used the term “biophilia” to indicate his hypothesis that humans would “imprint” in genes an instinctive link with nature and living organisms with which we share our planet. Aristotle expressed a similar concept when speaking of friendship, reciprocity and love for life.
2.2 Benefits to people’s health and productivity
More and more research reveals the positive impact of biophilic design on people: improved learning skills, faster recovery from illness, increased performance in the workplace. Closeness to or immersion in nature improves mood, quality of life and proactivity. Biophilic design models have value in different contexts: it is scientifically proven that a happy patient responds better to treatments or that a worker who is satisfied with the work environment gives a higher performance.
The presence of Nature is to be considered fundamental in particular in highly artificial urban contexts, developed as a result of the spred of modernism and technology.
Projects
Public Spaces – An example of a Greening Policy – the case of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong government has long promoted a greening policy that includes the planning and development of public works projects, to significantly improve urban greenery with the conservation of trees and plants, new planting and the creation of green areas.
The Taikoo Place in Quarry Bay, for example, will be transformed into a major business and commercial hub.
Two large gardens, designed by London-based landscape architect Gustafson Porter, will be created to provide 69,000 square feet (6,400 square meters) of open space: Taikoo Square and Taikoo Garden.
The huge green space will include fountains, paths and trees and foliage native to the region.
These interventions aim to have a strong impact on people’s well-being in line with the concepts expressed above: the exposure to nature is able to alleviate mental fatigue, strengthen the attentive abilities, improve interactions between people who will use this area.
This is also stated by Mark A. Torgerson in his book “Greening Spaces for Worship and Ministry: Congregations, Their Buildings, and Creation Care” (2012): “A number of recent studies demonstrate the positive impacts that access to urban green spaces can have on the amount of social interaction, and ultimately, the strength of social ties, among neighbors. Green urban spaces appear to attract people outdoors, increasing opportunities for casual social encounters among neighbors and fostering the development of stronger neighborhood social ties.”
Work Places – Second Home
Second Home is a new type of creative workspace. The cultural center, designed by Selgascano, is based on a radical review of the work environment for creative companies in rapid growth.
Born from the renovation of an old factory, Second home offers soundproofed private studios located inside a building designed as a collaborative and social environment aimed at encouraging new connections.
Second Home’s architecture is biophilic, featuring over 1,000 plants fed by an advanced hydroponics system.
This project, unlike the Taikoo Place, which has an urbanistic-architectural dimension, acts on a smaller scale, that of the interior.
The intervention stems from the consideration that nowadays more and more people spend most of their time inside buildings and especially workers, who spend most of their days there. For this reason it is necessary to design the interiors in harmony with the urban and architectural planning that follows the principles of biophilia.
Conclusion
Individual well-being, social well-being, harmony of the environment and productivity… the effects of design can really have an enormous impact on the improvement of the quality of life and of production, a binomial which, as history teaches us, but also certain current realities, is often in contrast and apparently incompatible. The biophilic design model and the application of the principles of biomimetric architecture constitute an ideal model that design research is trying to pursue in many parts of the world. It is clear that important resources are needed to extend these virtuous models and that there is a long way to go before this ‘creative philosophy’ takes on a global reach, but it is also true that investing a lot does not always mean spending better. Now that environmental issues in the general sense involve a large part of the world’s population and proselytise especially among the various generations, the idea is increasingly shared that rethinking environments on a human scale and in harmony with nature is essential for the survival of Planet Earth. Responsible consumption, the fight against desertification through the creation of green areas even in urban areas, the reduction or even elimination of the use of materials that are difficult to recycle such as plastic, the recovery of waste materials that can only arise from the construction of the primary product, can make a difference.
And the designer’s research becomes fundamental to rethink human intervention in the construction, renovation and rethinking of spaces and environments with a view to combining productivity and liveability and making them compatible with the inevitable expansion of urban models.
2019-4-2-1554223765